Wine

Don Schoenburg and Christi Carter knew they had found the right place to open a restaurant when they stumbled across a vacant spot in Lido Marina Village. The couple’s new venture, the Lido Deck, 3420 Via Oporto, Suite 101, features simple, seasonal dishes paired with boutique wines. Featuring waterfront dining and a private dining room, the restaurant is on the site of the defunct eatery Blanca. “Our vision is to have a place where you could come and get a really good meal, or at least not so expensive.

Orange county philanthropists and wine lovers will donate money March 28 at the Balboa Bay Club to help abused children, as part of the fundraiser, ?Harvesting Hope for the Olive Crest Kids.? The event, which raises money for Olive Crest Homes and Services for Abused Children, will feature a wine tasting from vineyards across California for an expected 400 notable guests. Attendees will also participate in auctions and listen to live jazz. One such auction will be a silent auction exclusively selling fine wines, while a live auction will offer luxury goods.

After the triple punch of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, many Newport-Mesa residents have likely exhausted their budget for wine and merriment. But for those whose thirst now exceeds their wallets, the Five Crowns restaurant is here to help. The Corona del Mar English-style institution offers a special Monday night wine menu year-round, featuring wines at a 20% to 40% discounted price. Some of the bottles arrived at Five Crowns with a missing or damaged label; others were dropped from the main wine list due to diminishing supply or were surplus bottles from special wine events.

A convenience store selling beer and wine would be added to the Arco gas station at 2100 Bristol St., if the Newport Beach planning commission agrees today. After a few changes were made to comply with commission requests, staff members recommend signing off on the project. But commissioners also will consider objections from the Santa Ana Heights Project Advisory Committee, which was concerned about the new store?s effect on existing traffic congestion. The Newport Beach planning commission meets at 6:30 p.m. today at 3300 Newport Blvd.

Dick Cannon This past March, my wife Diane and I visited Chile and spent three delightful weeks with our wonderful friends, the Silva Sante-Banez family (Koca, Chaco, Alberto, 30, Gonzalo, 20, Paula, 29, and her 5-year-old son Udo). This was our fifth trip over the years to visit this incredible country and immerse ourselves in the lives of this special family. Our relationship and bond began 15 years ago when our oldest son, Jeff -- then a junior at Corona del Mar High School -- was an American Field Service exchange student.

The charitable arm of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, CM900, handed over $10,000 to Assistance League Newport-Mesa recently after raising funds for the youth-focused charity. The annual community event “Wines of the World: Wine and Food Tasting,” produced by CM900 in September, was the source of the donation. Assistance League is a nonprofit organization of volunteers who work to help children and families in the community. CM900 is an association made up of local business people and is used by the chamber to promote public good and support youth programs.

Lula ula and the late Marion Halfacre , owners of Traditional Jewelers, have been super-dedicated community activists always front and center to support local causes. Since Marion’s death last year, Lula, along with her children and her staff, has not only continued the legacy of community support, but has actually gotten more involved. The Halfacre family has been a visible mainstay for the advancement of Chapman University, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian Newport Beach, The Orange County Perform- ing Arts Center and numerous other civic and charitable organizations that are extremely important to many people in the Orange County family at-large.

When Jeffrey Dobkin and Julie Thompson-Dobkin started making wine in Newport Beach nine years ago, their winery was their garage — and their assistant grape pressers were 5 and 2 years old. The couple, who both work during the week as physicians, got acquainted with the wine business through friends who owned vineyards in Santa Barbara. Occasionally, the Dobkins volunteered to press grapes, and it wasn’t long before they got inspired to bottle their own brand. Their first attempt took place in 1998, with half a ton of grapes and eight very purple feet.

The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday approved a $1,514 stipend for Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and Councilman Steve Mensinger, who plan to attend the annual International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas later this month. The Costa Mesa Conference and Visitors Bureau will cover the other half of the cost. The trip is part of the city's effort to attract new commercial development, especially sit-down restaurants on Harbor Boulevard, council members said.

A grand early spring festival of the grape, co-chaired by DeDe and Alex McKinnon , attracted some 300 wine lovers and raised an impressive $160,000 for the Pacific Symphony. Organizers billed the event, which unfolded at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach, as the Pacific Coast Wine Festival. It showcased vintages from 30 wineries worldwide. Participants in the festival were selected by advanced sommelier Jim Houston from the renowned Charlie Palmer's dining rooms. The Saturday evening party began at sunset with a cocktail reception.

It was a moment that almost slipped by, unnoticed by all but one eyewitness. With the click of his camera shutter - a twin lens reflex Rolleiflex being his tool of choice at the time - an 18-year-old Jerry Muller caught the image of two well-dressed men gazing after a young woman as she walked down a New York sidewalk in 1951. "Those two guys looking at this girl - that's the decisive moment," said Muller, 77, of Costa Mesa, citing a style of photography coined byHenri Cartier-Bresson, while studying the 24-by-25-inch black-and-white image.

COSTA MESA — Renowned pianist Ellis Hall will play at a charitable event benefiting the Mercy House this weekend at the OC Mart Mix. "He's really great," Allison Harvey, organization development director, said of the blind musician. "He gets a really good feel with the crowd and is just an incredibly soulful, talented musician. " The event aims to raise awareness of the Santa Ana-based nonprofit that helps the homeless as well as raising awareness of homelessness countywide.

COSTA MESA — Marilyn Monroe said diamonds are a girl's best friend. Wine, though, promises to be a close second Friday at a Hi-Time Wine Cellars event inspired by the iconic Hollywood bombshell. The event from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Costa Mesa store's wine bar is hosted by Thirsty Girl and Napa Valley-based Marilyn Wines, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary and the release of its 2009 Marilyn Merlot. The wine retails for about $29 and features a label with a silk-screened image of the starlet.

COSTA MESA - Larry Graham runs a haven for wine lovers at the Orange County Fair. A shady canopy, comfortable patio furniture and more than 2,500 wines offer fairgoers a respite from the summertime heat and barbecue smoke. Graham is one of 300 volunteers who operate the Courtyard, a covered patio adjacent to the Parade of Products. Sponsored by the Orange County Wine Society, the Courtyard features a daily rotating list of about 80 wines. "For wine-knowledgeable people, this has become an annual destination," Graham, the society's past president, said about the event that showcases wines entered into the 35th annual O.C. Wine Fair & Event Center Commercial Wine Competition, judged at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa hotel June 4 and 5. "Year after year, we see people return here because they know that they can get quality, award-winning wine at their preferred prices," Graham said.

Wine lovers can get wise about different countries' style of fermented grape juice. Newport Beach's Rusty Pelican restaurant will host wine enthusiasts Monday evenings for Orange Coast College's series of one-night sessions on wine appreciation. The two-hour sessions will teach participants about a different wine region or style. The class is taught by wine connoisseur and OCC Visual and Performing Arts Dean Joe Poshek. The series will start with Demystifying French Wine on Monday, Wines of Italy and Spain on July 18, The Wines of Summer on July 25, and Wines of Australia and New Zealand on Aug. 1. All classes are from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and are $55 each.

NEWPORT BEACH — Local boutique winery owner Gus DeFalco's low-cost wines have something in common with the big-dollar bottles produced in California's established wine-making regions: the same grapes. DeFalco owns Orange Coast Winery, which opened in April. He gets his grapes — about 4,000 pounds per vineyard harvest — from growers in Napa, Sonoma, Amador, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Mendocino, Santa Maria, Lodi and other swaths of California's wine country. His varietals average $12 to $24 per bottle.

There will be several Memorial Day observance ceremonies in the area, including one at 11 a.m. Monday at Harbor Lawn-Mt. Olive Memorial Park & Mortuary, 1625 Gisler Ave., Costa Mesa. Organizers will offer complimentary hot dogs and drinks to attendees. For more information, call (714) 540-5554 or visit harborlawn.com . The Newport Beach American Legion will hold two Memorial Day ceremonies with performances by the Mountain Fifes and Drums at 11 a.m. Monday at the Pacific View Memorial Park, 3500 Pacific View Drive, Corona del Mar, and at 1 p.m. at Newport Harbor Post 291, 215 E. 15th St., Newport Beach.

Are you a foodie? I am. Fine wine, great food, I think about them all the time. Cannot be trusted around either of them. It's pathetic. I have no control. My willpower is powerless, every time I get on a digital scale, the little window says, "One at a time, please. " But nevermind that. The only thing that matters is Friday. If you're a foodie, that is the day that you win the lottery, you're 18 again and the IRS calls and says, "Nevermind. Your return is fine; we had the wrong name.